ACT III - The Great Escape

In the morning of the day where my fate would be changed forever, I started by dusting the items stacked around the shop. I made mental notes about where the apron and the succulent was, however I couldn't see where the shoes were located. No matter, as the four of them would have advantage in finding them more quickly than one person could.

I suggested that for lunch, we could check a nearby family restaurant which could potentially have lots of Memory-Power, and Tsukumo agreed without much thinking, saying that he was wanting to check the place with his own eyes for a while now. We had let it be for a longer duration from other restaurants, so it was probably at peak Power levels… Well, I didn't care at this point, but I did feel thankful to have an excuse to be away from the shop a bit. Sure, the moment he felt something was off in our shop, he could check with his many items right away, but at the end of the day, I was going to get caught either way. I only hoped that they could help him retrieve his memories, that's all…

Before leaving the shop for lunch, I made sure that the apron and the succulent were at easily spotted places. As for the glasses, I really wish I could find them, but I knew that they were locked in a small safe box, with Tsukumo holding the key inside his coat, so there was nothing to do in that regard. To my knowledge, if I could get Yuujin to wear them, it'd most certainly show his memories once more, but his friends had to do with the Scene-showing items for now, and hope for the best…

I had buried the spare keys to the shop near a tree, now it was up to Kajimaru and the senpai to complete the mission with success.

Tsukumo was in a most pleased mood, inspecting the family restaurant. Since it was the weekend, there were many friends and families eating together, creating more memories each passing minute. Meanwhile, I tried to push my food down to my stomach, pretending to care about the Power this place held. I was feeling awfully anxious and… Scared. The happily humming man in front of me—I knew just how dangerous he could be when exasperated…

On the way back to the shop, a stationary shop owner held Tsukumo for some small talk. I excused myself, saying that it was time to reopen the shop, as we wouldn't want to miss out on important weekend customers. Tsukumo approved of me leaving ahead, so I walked away at a normal pace, trying not to sprint from my scared anticipation. Did they leave? Were they able to retrieve the items and close the shop again? I took a deep breath as I stood in front of the door. If I could open it with a simple push, it'd mean that they would be inside still, and… The moment they left the shop, there was a big chance they would get caught by Tsukumo on his way back.

I felt like I was going to faint.

I pushed the door, and…

It opened, with sounds of gasping behind. Yeah, they were still in here…!

Michiru-senpai ran to my side, whispering frantically. "Rena, Rena! We couldn't find my shoes… Where are they, do you know?" I shook my head, and quickly reported that I couldn't find them in the morning, either. She looked devastated.

I put my hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry… I'll make sure to find them and get them on your way, somehow… Now please, before he arrives, leave the place—" They all gathered by the entrance. Kajimaru had found his succulent, Ria-senpai her apron and… Seiten-senpai the safe-box with Yuujin's glasses?!

"S-senpai, put those back! If he finds out that they're gone, we'd get in big trouble—!" He asked if they contained the glasses, and wouldn't it be better if they just stole them back, maybe a negotiation could be held and—I put my finger on his lips so he would stop talking, and went to check the streets. Crap, Tsukumo was close! He'd definitely see them if they left the shop now, so there was no choice but to—

"Hide! Hide quick, he's coming!"

Ria-senpai, with her face as white as a sheet, asked "But where?? My god, we are going to get caught…!" Kajimaru held her hand, dragging her inside. "We will find a corner, and then slip out when Tsukumo sits down. There's a shopkeeper's bell, so Rena... Please make a sound droppin' those boxes over there as we run out, alright?" I nodded, and pushed Michiru gently towards Seiten-senpai's side, so they'd hide together. It would be difficult for all four of them to hide at the same corner, but as long as they managed to escape at the same time, there'd be no issues with the bell's sound. They scrambled inside, and I waited by the door to greet Tsukumo. I tried my best to put on my usual disinterested face, despite feeling that the whole world was slipping under me…

"Welcome back, Tsukumo-san. We had no visitors yet." He fixed his tie, looking at his reflection in one of the displayed antique mirrors. "That so." Cold sweat going down my spine, we entered the shop. Inside of the shop was eerily quiet, they really did a spectacular job in erasing their presence. But would the same be able to said once they walked forward to take their escape…?

He made way towards the wooden table set and sat down with a sigh. "These chairs from Nara were really a worthy investment. They're most comfortable… A man a few centuries old really needs to care for his back, ahaha!" His loud laugh echoed in the shop, and I sensed that the four had made their moves closer to exit, taking the laughter to their advantage.

I sighed. I decided to hold Tsukumo captive in conversation so he'd be further distracted. "I never got to know your true age, but I'll take your word that it's 'a-few-centuries old', as you always say. It's a miracle you can stay so active, really." He laughed again, so loud that it echoed inside my ears. "Well, Rena-chan, don't we do all this to keep my vitality levels as high as possible?" He opened his arms wide, and stood up from his seat.

Uh oh.

"I can walk and move just fine, but it is true that some exercise would do me good, even as an old man. Let me handle those boxes of our new arrivals from Okinawa."

Uh! Oh!! Now that was the worst course of action he could take at that moment!! If he walked inside the shop, they'd get caught immediately…!

"Haha, please, sit down Tsukumo-san. Leave such a troublesome job to me; what do you pay this assistant for?" He patted my back, causing me to shiver at his contact. "Even so, I do need to inspect the contents inside, yeah? Let's handle it before we have visitors."

At that moment, someone's sneakers made a sound. Without wanting to, my head turned towards the sound. Dammit, just from my reaction, he could know something was up…!

"Oya, perhaps we have visitors already?" He raised his cane, if he hit it on the ground, all would be over! I had to think quickly… Like, right now!

"Wait, Tsukumo-san!" I caught his cane in the air and whispered, "It could be a rat, let me see what it is without making a sound, so I don't miss it." I lightly walked towards the source of the sound, and met the eyes of a terrified Michiru-senpai and Seiten-senpai. He was carrying the small blonde in his arms, ensuring that there'd be one less pair of shoes to make a sound, but—the extra weight had caused his own shoes to create a noise!

I glanced at the boxes nearby, and a peek towards my back revealed that Ria-senpai and Kajimaru were crawling behind some rows of items. I pointed at the boxes, and silently mouthed them to "Escape, now."

I was going to cause a grand commotion.

I filled my lungs with a deep breath, and then screamed on top of my lungs. "Eeeek! It's a rat, it's a rat!!" I ran towards the boxes, pushing them to the ground. The goods inside caused a lot of noise, more than I expected. I kicked them to create additional sounds, shouting "Sorry, Tsukumo-san! Suddenly it appeared near my feet, I panicked so hard and bumped into the boxes—" I took a glance at the door, it was open and they left one by one as Kajimaru held it. He did a quick nod of approval at me, and then slowly closed the door. They had made it! It was a perfect escape!!

I heard Tsukumo's slow steps behind me. I pretended to search the ground. "It should be right around here, I saw it just now—" I felt him hold me by the back of my shirt. I got stunned, I never knew he had this much strength, he was holding my entire body up!

"I caught it, the Rat."

I gulped. While they enjoyed their Great Escape, the poor Rat was caught…!